Willow-chair construction



w. REHE. WILLOW 'CHA'IR CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED APR..29, 1921..

1,412,197. Patented Apr. '11-, 1922.

gnwcul'oz M lll am Fe/le v Gnome WILLIAM REHE, or aocnns'rnn, NEWYdRKi .wIIiLOW-GHAIR CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed April 29, 1921; Serial 465,558; l

To all 1 710m it may concern Be it knownthat I, XVILLIA'M REHE, a citizen of the Republic of Germany, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented .certain new and useful Improvements in VVillow- Chair Constructions, of which the following will be fully illustrated in the drawings, de scribed in the. specification and'pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In the accompanying drawing:

' Fig. 1 is a perspective skeleton view of the chair. 1

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the seat, the section being taken on the line 2 ,2 of Fig; 1, V V i In the several figures of the drawing, like reference numerals indicate like parts.

Heretofore chairs have been woven by the use of willow, reed, rush and other flexible materials. Of these the willow stems are the stifi'er and heavier and-the reed stems are the lighter and more flexible. Heretofore the reed chairs have been-made with a wooden frame work to make them more stiff and rigid. Because of the small size and flexibility reeds could be woven around the members of the wooden frame successfully while it has not been-deemed practical to weave or bend willow around the members of such a frame. Because of this, the willow chairs have been. found lacking in strength and stiffness given to the reedchairs by the wooden frame.

I. have now found a way to makea wlllow chalr in which a wooden frame 1s used. 111

which the willow is woven over and around' the wooden frame work, thus preserving all the finish or the ornamental appearance of the willow chair and making'it even stronger and more rigid than the reed chair.

The willow chair which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, is provided with wooden reinforcing frame 1 similar to the frame heretofore used in making reed chairs. Tl'llS frame comprlses the seat member 2 "which is built up of the front member 3 and the back'member 5 with the side members 6:

and 7 linking them together.. The seat 2 is supported on four legs 8, 9, 1'0 and 11. These. legs are fastened to the corners of the Seat} Specification of Letters Patent. P t t Apr. 1 922.

by means of nails near the'upp'er end thereofv and are-braced on the seat by means of the braces 12, 13, lat-and l 5'near the' lowerend. thereof; The braces 12 to 15, inclusive, arewillow members and aroadaptedto project into the angular holes 16 provided in the I seat 2. These holesarefdrilled in the seat at an angle to top and bottom thereof, with the incline toward the middle of the'si'de or end of the seat. The willow members comprising the b races, are bent at the upper end to project into, the holes 16. An angular brace is thus formed which takes up any side thrust onthe legs of the frame and holds the legs rigidly in place on'the seat without the &lCl' Of nails or other fastening means ordinarily used to fasten the braces to the seat. The lower end of the braces are, fastened. to the legsby means ofnails that are driven through thebraoe into the legs. The braces,--however, are not fastenedto the legs 7 at their lower end until the willow work is practically completed. In this'lies the secret.

which enables the making ofa willow chair.

with a wooden frame. The braces that are being used in reed chairs, are permanently fastened at the top and bottom when the wooden frame is'being made. This is possible, because the reed members arepliable and can be woven around the braces. It isimpossiblahowever, to do this with "willow members, someof which are as much as onehalf inch in diameter and comparatively stiff even when wet, in which state the willow is being worked.

-When the willow members have been '7 -wovenaround thelegs of the frame down to the point where thelower ends of the braces are to be attached. the braces ,are'nailed' to the legs and the willows. are then wound'over 1 V the outside of the legs andbraces to conceal the joints between the bracesand the legs. In this way, the wooden frame can :be properly braced and reinforced without interfering with the placing of the willow thereon and withoutichanging the appearance of the finished chair and the chair can be made with a wooden ,frame to add to its supporting strength which has heretofore been possible made, have not found the market and sale of reed chairs, in spite ofthe fact that "only with" reed chairs or other equally pliable material. I

Willow chairs which have heretofore'beenthe finish of a willow chair presents a better 7 appearance than a reed chair. This is solely due to the fact that the strength of the willow chairs has been way below that of the reed chair. lVith the aid of the frame Work above described, the willow chair can now be made the equal in strength of the reed chair.

I claim l. A chair, comprising a frame, a seat formed by said frame, legs supporting said frame, willow members woven around said seat to form the sides and back of said chair, willow members wound around said legs below said seat, angular braces between said seat and said legs,'said angular braces being loosely fastened to said seat and being rigidly fastened to said legs.

2. A chair, comprising a frame, having a seat formed thereby, legs supporting said seat at the front and back thereof, willow members ornamentally woven around said seat and said legs above and below said seat, said seat having angular holes therein inclinedtoward the middle of the front, back and sides of said seat, braces having an angular extension formed at one end. thereof, said angular extension extending into said angularholes and forming a shoulder on the upper end of said braces to hold said braces in place on said seat, means to fasten the lower end of said braces to said legs, said braces beingfastened .to said legs after the ornamentally Woven Willow members Woven around said seat and said legs.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature;

\VILLIAM REHE'. 

